The Hunger Games: Death of the Mockingjay

Chapter 34

I wake to the sound of shouting, it's daylight, not early morning twilight but bright sunshine, how long have I slept in for?

"Draven?" I hear someone shout from just the other side of the wall from where I'm lying.
I freeze in shock before trying to shrink down further into my sleeping bag. I see an old rain coat that's been thrown down just an arms reach away and I quickly reach out grab it and pull it over my head just as a young girl rounds the end of the wall into my small area. I close my eyes and silently pray that she won't spot me but then a sick feeling hits me.

My bow.

It lays alongside my sleeping bag in plain sight, all she has to do is look to the ground and she'll see my Mockingjay Bow, one of the biggest icons of the war. I peek out from under the rain coat and see her muddy boots facing the other way. As long as she keep her focus on the swamp and the search for her leader then I'll be safe. She starts shouting Draven's name again but there's no reply, it would appear that she's been either left behind or cut off from the others during the night. It would seem that she spent the night here too, most likely somewhere else in the camp.
I slowly extend a hand out from under the cover of the coat close my fingers around my bow and slowly pull it closer to me while she's preoccupied with her search. She swings round at the sound of my bow dragging on the undergrowth and I freeze, hoping I haven't given myself away.

She gives an involuntarily gasp and I know that she's seen my hand on the bow, I've only milliseconds to act and I do the only thing I can think of, I instinctively react to her shock, grab her ankle and and yank her foot toward me as hard as I can. She loses her footing and lands on the floor flat on her back. I leap from my sleeping bag, grab my bow and jump on her, straddling her chest with my knees on her arms which are stretched out to her sides. She struggles to get free and spits and curses at me but I just casually take my bow and press it down across her neck causing her to choke. It takes only a moment for her to realise that I can end her life in just a few moments just by pushing my bow down on her windpipe. Her fight disappears and she just looks at me with a look of hate but when I look into her grey eyes I see her dirty soiled cheeks and black matted hair I realise that I know this girl.

"Who are you? I ask

She says nothing then grins back at me in a look of defiance. I answer with a simple increase of pressure on my bow and her defiant look turns to one of fear.

"Tell me" I say as I bend down toward her face
"I have no fear in ending you right here and now"

She struggles to nod "I'm 7 of 12" she says shakily.

This confuses me but then I remember what Barris told me about the Watchmen and their code names and numbers. 7 of 12? That's why I recognise her, she's from District 12, Watchmen number 7!

"So you're from District 12, my District, our District. How can you do this? Peeta and I have always tried our best for our people, why are you doing this?

"Because I wanted to be just like you, to fight in the arena. You were my idol, my god. After you won I trained and got ready to go into the arena but then the Quarter Quell came and you went in again and I focused myself on the 76th Hunger Games. I was going to volunteer but those games never happened. Because of you and your rebellion I lost everything I'd ever dreamed of, I had nothing. You took that away from me Mockingjay!" She finishes through gritted teeth.

I shake my head at her. I can't believe that she wanted the games after all the hardship the capital put the Districts through. I can understand the career tributes of Districts 1 and 2 but this is just all wrong, her logic seems alien to me.

"What about your family, what did they say?

"They don't care what I do, my Mom is sick all the time and my Dad spends most of his time drinking, except when he's down the mine that is"

"So he's a miner, Gale was a miner, my Dad too"

"Yeah I know"

I relax the pressure on my bow slightly so she talk a little easier.

"I can't figure you out, I've never met anyone from the outer Districts who wanted the games, all they ever did was cause us suffering"

"I wanted this!" She shouts darting her eyes around our surroundings. "I wanted the arena, I wanted the challenge. I wanted the feeling of being a victor and having money, of being famous"

I chuckle slightly, belittling her. "You have no idea what you're talking about. The games don't end when you leave the arena, that's just the beginning. Once you come out you join that viscous circle of training more tributes, mentoring them then watching them die. I was lucky, I never had to endure that but Haymitch has lived through it watching his tributes die year after year. And then there's the nightmares, those I'll never get rid of.
No girlie, the Games leave a mark on you that you'll never escape from, believe me when I tell you it's not what it's made up to be"

"But I enjoy this, I enjoy the fight, it gives me a purpose"

"You're deluded, this isn't an arena of the Hunger Games. Can you remember a Games where teams fought against each other, where one team had twice the number of tributes and came armed with guns while the other team started with just two bows. No, this isn't the Hunger Games.

"But-"

I continue to rant at her....

"You have no idea of what the Hunger Games are, when you're stood on that pedestal at the start with no idea what's going to happen to you, wether you'll die at that moment, the next day or the next week! You have no idea what you're talking about until you've not eaten in days, killed kids your own age and feel like sleep and a dry bed are all things of the past. Believe me when I tell you that this isn't what the games are, this arena has nothing in common with the Hunger Games. This spectacle that Plutarch has put on for you is just a tool to show the world what the Brotherhood are all about, it's not what you need"

She just stares back at me in defiance. It's clear that whatever I say isn't going to sway her, she's been completely brain washed by the Brotherhood and can't see any other option. The thing is what do I do with her. I reach over with my left hand and grab my sheath put it on my back and cautiously climb up off of her. I watch her movements closely. I didn't get a chance to search her for weapons but I'm pretty sure I didn't see any guns.

She rolls to her side and I quickly grab an explosive arrow and string it, I haven't any standard arrows left so I've no other option other to use an explosive without arming the arrow head. She puts up her hand for me not to shoot but I've been deceived by these people before, I take a step back so I can see her more clearly. She stands to face me with a grin on her face and there in her right hand is a single throwing knife. I shake my head at her.

"Listen just think for a minute, you're from my District, we should be friends. Don't do this, Don't make me have to kill you"

I pull the string back on my bow as a single tear tracks down my cheek. Her arm quickly whips back behind her with the knife loosely held between her thumb and forefinger. I know that she's committed to the cause, to the brotherhood, she gambling on my compassion for her but I can't let our connection to District 12 blind me. She starts her throw as I release my arrow.